Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except for the setting and OCs.

Chapter 2: Power Conquers All

Tenten gulped as she looked at the brilliant aquamarine-colored glasses that reflected the sunshine's ultraviolet rays. The word "huge" would be an understatement if used to describe the building in front of her. For Tenten, it was a whole entire state of its own; a gigantesque mall that could very well rival up to the castles she'd seen on websites while researching for her projects way back to her primary school years.

"I can't do this. I can't do this." She wailed desperately, latching herself onto her female companion, who happened to be Sakura.

"Why is it him of all people and why so soon? It hasn't even been a day!" Tenten finally remembered him being in her seminar the first year. Apparently, he was too smart for the rest of them and had upgrade to the advanced classes. As for Tenten, she had dropped out of business school after the incident with Sakura.

Sakura rolled her eyes and kept walking, ignoring the peculiar stares casted their way. She knew that it wasn't because of her friend's childish clinginess, but merely because of her appearance. Just a glimpse of her, and one would not be able to forget the unusual girl with light cherry pink hair, pale ivory skin, and emerald jade eyes. The combination was odd, but it bizarrely fitted Sakura's image. The pink mane was pulled back into a thick low bun.

"Sakura-chan…"

"Perhaps you will learn something from working as Neji-san's secretary. I specifically asked him to look out for you. Come on, Tenten. You have to start acting your age. You're supposed to be more mature than me. Not the other way around."

Tenten smiled at the last statement; her mood lifted up completely, "Fine, Fine. Go and shop around here,while I go and ace this interview." With that, she unlatched herself from Sakura and skipped towards the elevator. Just before she entered, she turned around and held out a peace sign, "Don't forget, you need a new outfit for school next week. Also, don't forget to pray for my success! If I get in, you're treating me to dinner!"

"It's supposed to be the other way around," Sakura sighed and turned around, facing myriad shops and boutiques.

Even if she was an acquaintance of Hyuuga Neji, the General Manager of the company, she knew that she couldn't afford to shop at such luxury. The Hyuuga Corporation was internationally known, and practically reserved for rich women and mistresses from well-known families to shop in.

Someone tapped her from behind, "Excuse me, Miss?"

She whirled around to find an attractive man that seemed to be in his late twenties with equally peculiar hair color as her. His long platinum grey hair was tied up in a low ponytail. Although she was considered tall, he towered over her, being close to six feet three. Even his fashion sense was peculiar. A pair of motorcycle goggles rested on his hair, and even though it was on a cooler day of New York City, he was sporting a white long-sleeved motorcycle jacket with two huge buckles in the front that acted as zippers. Halfway down the sleeves, the color switched to orange and the style made it seem as if it was those long gloves that brides wore. A black shirt rested below the jacket and around his neck was a cream thin scarf. Tall, heavy looking boots with silver buckles covered up the hems of his white jeans and he wore black belt to match his outfit.

"Miss…?"

Sakura blinked.

She had been staring at him; almost gawking, for he was extremely attractive in that ridiculous outfit.

She finally managed to let out a single word. "Yes?"

"Are you interested in being a model?"

Her jade eyes widened and she felt her mouth dropped. "No!" The answer came out hoarse.

"Okay…" the man trailed off awkwardly and blinked. The tension in the air suddenly seemed heavier.

"I'm sorry. It's just that the proposal was unforeseen. I was quite startled." Sakura clarified. If she was younger and less mature, she probably would have laughed at the priceless face the man had presented her. However, she had grown up and humour was no reason to disregard proper etiquettes.

He laughed, "That was a quite display. You are the first woman to immediately refuse my offer. However, I think you're quite suited to be a model."

Sakura smiled politely, "Thank you very much. However I'm not interested. I'm sorry." She started to distance herself away from him, but he grabbed her arm, "I'm Yakushi Kabuto, under the Yamanaka agency. If you happen to change your mind, please do not hesitate to call me."

Out of nowhere, he managed to fish out his business card and handed it to her. Sakura's polite smile wavered unconditionally; she looked as if she was going to break down any moment. "I will… if I change my mind."

Watching her disappeared into a store with a catlike walk, an amused grin materialized to Kabuto's lips. A mischievous glint shimmered in his dark, enigmatic eyes. As a talented, renowned scout, Yakushi Kabuto knew that she was the one they had been searching for. She was meant to be in the modeling industry with that natural, graceful walk of hers. Getting her to enter was just a matter of time. If requests didn't work, then he would have to resort to other means.

"Omoshiroii ne~ (Interesting)"

- MAELSTROM -

"Love? Do you love me as Sasuke or me as Uchiha Sasuke?"

Arisugaki Karin, who was waiting for her makeup artist to come, stared blankly at the mirror in front of her. The break up scene replayed in her mind like a soundless broken record, concentrating just on that particular scene.

Her heart hurt and before she knew it, tears had unconsciously fallen from her eyelids. She didn't know it would hurt this much. She didn't know that she had subconsciously fallen for Uchiha Sasuke. She didn't…

" Do you love me as Sasuke or me as Uchiha Sasuke?"

Her lips curled into an ironic smile; a smile full of anguish and despair. She now knew the answer: she had fallen for Sasuke, himself. But she wasn't sure if it was true love.

'Love' for Karin was an emotion she couldn't define. It was a meaningless emotion. She had acted in many romance dramas and chick flicks, but never in her quest was she able to experience the true emotion of love. Never once did her heart race when she kissed her male partner. There wasn't that spark that was described in the romantic stories that she read.

Karin stared down at the cover of Intertwined, written by the famous Vita Winter. It was like any other high school romance novel, but Vita Winter had the power to make her experience the sentiments of the heroine in the story. There was some haunting magic about her stories. They allured her and pulled her into the magical realm of fantasy. That was how she was able to act; she could only base it on the emotions she felt from reading the script and novels. This was the first time she was able to experience her own emotions.

Karin sighed. Now that she understood what it meant to be love, Vita Winter's stories felt like a fairy tale. Of course, they're stories, she thought to herself. Stories always end with a Happily Ever After— something I will never have.

"Are you sure you're ready for today's photo-shoot? You look like shit."

Karin looked up to find her co-worker – whom she would not consider as a friend – Tayuya dressed in a blue denim skirt with a brown off-the-shoulder cotton top. A pair of tall black boots completed her outfit, whereas her ridiculous salmon-colored hair was curled.

A dead cold stare was directed towards Tayuya, "I am quite aware of that. If you don't mind, can you please leave?"

However, the other model did not move. Instead, a haughty smirk appeared on her lips as she placed a fancy manicured hand on Karin's shoulders and sighed mockingly, "I know how hard it must be on you right now. After all, a month ago, you were just boasting how your Sasuke-kun would succeed his father's company and once doing so, he would propose to you. I guess he found out your motives and your secret relationships, huh?"

Karin gritted her teeth and clenched the hands rested in her lap, "Go away."

"But then again, I do feel bad for you. If Uchiha Sasuke and Arisugaki Karin weren't everyone's favourite idols, then they wouldn't be constantly trailed by the paparazzi, and if they weren't trailed, then there wouldn't be such a humiliating scandal. Oh excuse me, I mean Uchiha Sasuke. Arisugaki Karin only got famous through being Uchiha Sasuke's girlfr—"

"Go away, Tayuya! Please."

Tayuya stayed silent as she watched the other model stare at the mirror, dejected and vulnerable. Arisugaki Karin had said please. This was the first time Tayuya had seen her like that. Arisugaki Karin was known as The Bitch Princess. While directors bow down to her orders and her unreasonable demands, her female co-workers plot to destroy her due to her fortunate blessings – a nice figure and a showbiz talent. To add fuel to the fire, Karin and the rising star, Uchiha Sasuke dated after their movie, Summer's Haven.

Tayuya knew that Karin had many enemies and very few friends. Tayuya never tried to befriend her even if they went to the same school. Now that she had seen this vulnerable side of Karin, she didn't know how to react.

"Tch, whatever." That was the only response she could think of. "You better be ready for the photo shoot. I don't want to waste my whole day doing nothing just because of your stupid drama."

With that, Tayuya walked out the doors.

- MAELSTROM -

"I failed it! He didn't even give me a chance to explain myself!" Tenten cried exasperatedly in the passenger seat of her red Pontiac Sunfire as Sakura drove.

"That guy was a demon! Who has weird, pearly, freaky eyes anyways?"

"You haven't met Naruto's girlfriend yet, but she has the exact same pair of orbs as her cousin." Sakura nonchalantly stated while staring ahead; her emerald eyes never left the road as she drove down the street.

"Freaky! I wonder how Naruto can stand dating someone like that," Tenten huffed as she tore a bag of skittles and poured them out with ferocity into her left hand.

"That's not very nice to say. Hinata-chan is very nice, although she is a bit timid and quiet. However, she is nice nonetheless."

Tenten sighed, "Fine. I'm sorry. But still, I hate that guy! He just stared at me through the entire interview without even blinking, and then he started bombarding me with all kinds of unrelated questions about my personal life!"

"Why, maybe he's interested in you?" An amused grin spread across Sakura's face, "Wouldn't that be nice? If you can marry into a rich family, that is."

"Oh please! I'm not like those other girls who want to marry for wealth or fame. I practically grew up living a wealthy life."

"Don't exaggerate. You were just a maidservant who was spoiled by your mistress, and you still haven't gotten over that abnormal habit of yours, huh?"

"Nope!" Tenten chirped as she separated the red skittles from the rest and ate them. "Do you want one, Sakura?"

"You know I don't like candy."

"I don't get it. You adore chocolates, but you hate skittles." Tenten frowned as she popped another red skittle into her mouth. "Anyways how was your shopping spree? Anything happened while I was at my interview?"

"No, nothing happened."

Sakura knew that she could never tell Tenten about the Yakushi-san's offer. Definitely not, because it was very likely that her friend would jump at the news and make a living hell out of her until she accepted the offer. Sakura had no wish to be part of the modeling and showbiz industry. It was too complicated and it wasn't her style. She was set on to never agreeing to it. Besides, she had her writing job to support her.

Star Dust's Celebrated Couple Break-Up
By: Mitarashi Anko
August 26, 2014

On Saturday, witnesses saw Uchiha Sasuke waiting outside the cinema holding a bouquet of roses. The mysterious date was no other than Arisugaki Karin. However, she showed up after a period of nearly an hour with a fuming aura as she stomped up to her boyfriend.

Uchiha Sasuke looked dejected and irritated at the appearance of his girlfriend as he handed her the bouquet of roses. A disagreement broke out between them and ended with Sasuke leaving Karin standing alone with the bouquet in her hands.

Yesterday, Karin confirmed courteously that Sasuke and she were no longer in a relationship due to personal reasons. Even if Karin stated, "We both agreed to part ways." the make-up could not cover the swollen eyes.

As for Uchiha Sasuke, he refused to give his side of the story. From the pictures taken before this week, it looked as if Karin was having meaningless flings with unidentifiable men. Could this be the reason to their break up?

The bigger question is the production of the anticipated drama, Broken. Both parties were casted in the same drama with leading roles. How will Arisugaki Karin and Uchiha Sasuke re-create their chemistry if they can't even fix their own personal relationship?

Midori High School was nothing compared to Sasuke's previous school, Konoha High School, which was practically a village within the city. Konoha was reserved for the wealthy families, the extremely talented and gifted students, and it hosted education for the people of the showbiz world.

While Konoha was a private school, Midori was a public high school, but Sasuke found it much more tolerable. It wasn't easy for him to study at a public school, especially since he was Tokyo's most promising actor and was occasionally the subject of all the daily gossips. The school was in chaos when he first moved there. For the first few months, students would often point at him and get his autograph. Girls would try disgusting tactics in attempt to seduce him. However, the commotion slowly waned and everyone slowly let him have his personal space. There were occasional talks as his peers tried to get make a conversation with him. The high school principal was generous enough to prohibit all media on school property so he didn't have to worry about being pestered by the media.

The reason why he went to another school other than Konoha was because he didn't want to be compared to his brother, Itachi, whom they called the tensai (translation: prodigy). Even though he loved his brother very much, he wanted to establish his own existence.

It was only after Itachi left with his band that Sasuke decided to leave home as well. He couldn't stand the disconsolate mansion with practically no one around.

"Are you sure you want to get out?" Shikamaru questioned with a raised eyebrow as he eyed the outside surrounding.

Sasuke followed the gaze and as they had predicted, the media were swarming around Midori High as if they were bees getting honey. Sasuke heaved a sigh as he unbuckled his seat belt.

Might as well get it over with.

"Wait, Morino-sensei will deal with this."

As soon as Shikamaru said the sentence, the entranced door slammed open and their principal, a scary man with two scars upon his face wearing a bandanna - unfitting for his title- stormed out.

"Didn't we have this conversation already?" His voice was deadly calm as he spoke. A cruel smirk appeared on his face, "If you trespass the school property, which you are currently on right now, we have the right to call the police."

"You don't scare me!" A man from the press retorted rapidly. If it weren't for his hoarse voice, he could've probably resembled a little kid.

Mysterious glints flashed through Morino Ibiki's eyes, "Are you sure?"

It was a simple question but the air of danger clearly wrapped around those words.

"My, my, don't you think that's a bit partial, Morino-san?" A lady who clearly had a superior aura than the rest of her crew declared. Like an empress, her words silenced all her crew members. She smiled softly, but it was a cunning smile.

"Matarashi Anko." Ibiki's jaws clenched, indicating that the woman wearing the tight black netted shirt overtop a beige undershirt and a trench coat overtop wasn't an easy woman.

Anko proceeded as if she hadn't heard Ibiki. "Midori High School is the only public school that doesn't permit the media to be on their school property. That doesn't seem reasonable. Considering that other schools greatly hate our presence, why is that only Midori got the special treatment? Is it because of Uchiha Sasuke? Is the director kissing up to the Uchiha, or is it because he has accepted money from the Uchiha family, or maybe, it was you? Midori High School isn't even a private school, yet it has protection par up to Konoha High School."

Sasuke's jaws clenched. For that half of a second, he was about to storm out the car and attacked the woman who wrote numerous articles on him. However, Shikamaru, who had foreseen the whole situation, grabbed his arm.

"She's trying to lure you out. Besides, you wouldn't want to be charged for assault and make a bad publicity error in the newspaper."

A black Mercedes suddenly pulled up to the entrance of Midori, surprising everyone as they scrambled to clear way for it. The door opened, and a man who greatly resembled a member of a mafia with his fashion, which consisted of a pair of jeans, a red blazer over a red shirt, and wild platinum blond hair. A pair of sunglasses covered half of his vision. If he was smoking, it would've looked as if he was seeking entertainment out of a lost soul who had unfortunately caught his attention.

"Jiraiya-san," Ibiki bowed down.

Both Shikamaru and Sasuke stared, including all the students who were walking past the school gates. The school yard that was previously filled with chatters became silent.

Everyone was thinking, 'Who the hell is he to deserve such respect?'

Jiraiya slipped the sunglasses off his eyes and put it over his hair. A wild grin spread across his face, revealing himself to be a complete idiot and totally contradicting the previous presentation of himself.

"Mitarashi-san, if you continue to pester our school, I'm afraid I will have to take immediate charges against you. Orochimaru won't be pleased."

"So you became the director of the school board, huh?" Anko leered at him with clenched fists. "No wonder Orochimaru hates you so much."

Almost all mouths dropped in astonishment.

Jiraiya merely smiled at her statement. "Matsaba-san, would you please escort Mitarashi-san and her crew out?"

Anko waved her hand up to stop the bodyguards of Jiraiya, who were coming at them. "I can walk on my own," She declared coldly, revealing pride and defiance in her eyes. "But that won't stop me from finding Uchiha Sasuke. After all, I am Mitarashi Anko."

- MAELSTROM -

"Ibiki, I have request."

The principal of Midori High School raised a puzzled eyebrow at the director of the school board. It wasn't like Jiraiya couldn't pull strings to tamper with the school files, but like before, he wouldn't tell him his plans. The last time was with the Uchiha, and this time, it was a rather beautiful young girl.

"Don't tell me she's your mistress." Nobody laughed at his dry humor. In fact, the girl's eyes narrowed dangerously at the statement.

Jiraiya coughed, "Don't make unnecessary jokes. Just because I'm womanizer doesn't mean I'll hit on my own daughter." He patted Sakura's shoulders and she blinked, releasing the tension in her shoulders.

"So how can I help you this time?" Ibiki sighed.

Jiraiya glanced over at Sakura. "Her name is Haruno Sakura."

"Haruno… isn't that the fashion industry owned by the Sabakus?"

Jiraiya nodded, "I want her to be enrolled into this school. I've provided all the necessary information here, including her transcripts, history, and records." He pulled out a rather thick brown envelope and placed it on Ibiki's desk.

"Everything in here is classified. Make sure no one knows about this." Ibiki nodded in accord as he picked up the brown envelope. "This better be the last time, Jiraiya. Even though she's accepted, we haven't officially enrolled her into our school yet."

"It's not like you can't do something about it." Jiraiya waggled his eyebrow. "Come on, for ol' buddies? I promise this will be the last."

Ibiki drawled a deep breath as he shook his head in resignation, "Fine, but you better make it the last time."

- MAELSTROM -

Fifteen minutes before the bell rang, a commotion about the director of the school board and the mysterious girl that was with him spread throughout the classrooms. There were talks about the wild, yet handsome director, but most conversations centered on the girl with pink hair.

"Who would arrive at the end of the summer break?" A student inquired. After all, Midori High wasn't exactly a place where anyone would transfer to. It was a rather plain, average school, except for the fact that Uchiha Sasuke was a student there.

"I bet she wants to get close to our Sasuke-kun," Some girls whined childishly, fearing the new student would steal away their prince charming. That was how the rumour that the new student was a stalker began.

So when Haruno Sakura stepped into class of 30-A with Ibiki-sama, who explained the circumstances about the transfer to the homeroom teacher, Hayate, many of the students did not bother to make her acquaintances. She wasn't exactly the ideal girl with big breast and model qualities. She could be pretty if she tried, but she did not wear make-up. She was not like Haku, who was a magazine model featured in Koakuma Ageha. Also, because of the rumours of her being another obsessed Sasuke-kun fangirl, girls immediately loathed her. They did not want competition towards their beloved idol (even if it was prohibited to stalk him or bother him during class hours).

"Minna-san, it's a bit late into the year, but I want you to welcome your new classmate, Haruno Sakura," Hayate-sensei called out.

Everyone who recognized the surname took a decent look at her and gasped. The girl in front of them had an uncanny combination of light pink hair, somewhat close to the shade of the cherry blossoms which matched her name. Not only so, her eyes were emerald, which only few Japanese have.

Sasuke lifted his eyes away from the clouds he was staring idly at and looked at the girl. For a moment, he was enhanced by her. Not at her beauty, but something else altogether. There was this aura around her which seemed to protect her from people like him. Even though she was their age, she still looked as if she was entering her first year of high school and was trying too hard to fit in. Her hair was tied up into a bun, which did not coordinate with her straight bangs.

"So Sakura-chan, please introduce yourself." Hayate-san requested.

The girl stood in front of the class for a long while, and then slowly, she produced her very first phrase, "I am Haruno Sakura…" She trailed off rather awkwardly and silence fell upon the room.

"Well…" Hayate sighed at the lack of conversation. Usually his class was louder; it was amazing what a new presence could achieve. "You can get to know each other later. Please take a seat behind any unoccupied desk."

The girl made her way all the way to the back of the class, and took a seat near the window. On the way there, she passed Sasuke. Haunting emeralds eyes met with pools of onyx, aligning their visions in a moment that was too short for anyone else to catch.

"I hope all of you had a great sum—" The door to the classroom opened, interrupting the speech.

Everyone turned towards the person causing commotion, which resulted in some infatuated sighs from both boys and girls.

"Late on the first day, Haku-chan," Hayate frowned as he glanced at the clock.

"Gomen-ne Hayate-sensei," Haku bowed down to show her sincerity, "I had a photo-shoot last night, so I overslept."

"If you can't balance work and school, then you have to quit. We've already talked about this," The frown that graced his lips deepened, "Just take a seat behind an empty desk."

Haku nodded and she made her way to an empty seat in the front. However, her eyes drifted to the back where Sakura sat. Their eyes met for a moment and Haku could do nothing but stare. She stared at the pink-haired girl; her eyes widened and her mouth agape.

In that moment, time seemed to have stopped. They were merely staring at each other, waiting for something to happen, something to intrude and break their trance. Haku, who was holding a pen, loosened her grip. The pen rolled off her hands and onto the ground, creating a dissonant sound.

A single sentence broke through the deaf silence:

"Aren't you supposed to be dead, Sabaku Sakura?"

A/N: Ta-dah! Yes, Haku is portrayed as a girl in this story! Please remember to review, as they inspire me to write. To all those who reviewed, thank you so much! Please continue to do so!

+K. Tram~